receiving $250,000. all the best to you. and of course you at home, you can go to cnnheroes.com to vote for your favorite. all ten will be honored live on december 2nd at our cnn heroes designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. one is for a clean, wedomestic energy future and all-star tribute hosted by that puts us in control. anderson cooper. that's going to do it for me. our abundant natural gas is already saving us money, i'm fredricka whitfield. producing cleaner electricity, time now for "the situation room" and wolf blitzer. putting us to work here in america fred, thanks very much. happening now, lawmakers lashing and supporting wind and solar. out at the president, the news though all energy development comes with some risk, media and each other. we'rcommitted to safely and responsibly tempers flare as congress probes producing natural gas. the deadly attack on the u.s. it's not a dream. consulate in benghazi, libya. america's natural gas... you're about to hear a tape of pug contl of our energy future, now. senator john mccain's contentious exchange with cnn. also, we've seen pictures like this of the benghazi compound on september 11th, but today for the first time lawmakers are seeing surveillance video of the assault that killed the united states ambassador, three other americans. i'll talk to one u.s. senator about what that video shows. and mitt romney's speaking out

about his election loss blaming what he calls gifts -- that's a quote, gifts, the president people gave to people who voted for him. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." mitd romney speaking out about his election loss for the tempers flaring on capitol first time and blaming it in part on "gifts" that the hill. senator john mccain lashing out president gave to supporters. at one of our cnn producers who let's talk about that and more questioned why he was missing a with the republican governor bobby jindal of louisiana. key hearing on the attack on the he's the new chairman of the republican governors u.s. consulate in benghazi, association. libya. mccain has been a sharp critic congratulations by the way. i guess i got to say of the president and his congratulations on getting that job, governor. thanks very much for joining us. administration complaining lawmakers are not getting enough information. >> thank you, wolf. and when asked why he missed great to be back on the air with that meeting today, he lashed you. >> all right. let me play a little clip of out. our senior congressional what he said to some of his big correspondent dana bash is up on capitol hill. she's got more on this sensitive donors that's causing quite an uproar. here's mitt romney. story. dana, what happened? >> reporter: well, it turns out, listen to this. >> what the president, the wolf, cnn learned that most of president's campaign did was

the republicans on this key focus on certain members of his committee that had a briefing on base coalition, give them what happened in benghazi did not go. extraordinary financial gifts in fact, it was three out of the eight republicans on that from the government, and then committee. work very aggressively to turn one of those republicans who did them out to vote. not go to that briefing, it was a classified briefing, was john >> now, that's caused a lot of mccain. uproar, gifts that the president now, mccain at the time was gave. i guess the implication is, was having a press conference yesterday lashing out at the he bribing some of that administration for not getting enough information and calling coalition minorities, hispanics, for a select committee to young women with all sorts of investigate it all. well, our ted barrett caught up "gifts?" with the senator earlier today what do you make of that? and wanted to know why he didn't go to that briefing. >> wolf, this is completely and to say the least, it did not unhelpful. this is not where the republican party needs to go. go well. if you want voters to like you, the first thing you've got to do is like them first. and it's certainly not helpful listen to what happened. >> because i have the right as a to tell voters that you think their votes were bought. senator to have no comment. that's certainly not a way to and who the hell are you to tell show them that you respect them, you like them. we need to stop talking down to voters. me i can or not? as a republican party we need to fight for 100% of the electorate. >> reporter: so john mccain not 53%, not 52% but 100%. would not comment, would not give an answer to ted who was we've got to stop trying to divide people into different trying to do his job, trying to find out just why senator mccain groups by race, gender, class.

didn't go to that briefing. and senator mccain went onto say instead we've got to show them that our conservative principles he thought ted was badgering him will help them pursue the and not being respectful, which you know ted barrett, he is respectful. american dream. i will tell you though that this is completely not helpful. later in the day senator mccain this is not where the republican party needs to go. spokesman contacted us saying we need to offer smart, that the reason he didn't attend that classified briefing was conservative, intelligent ideas because of a scheduling error. and policiepolicies. i should also tell you that senator mccain has been inside the briefing that's going on we don't win votes -- telling right now. you probably see this podium behind me. them their votes were bought is that's because we're waiting for not helpful or true. this is where the republican the senate intelligence party needs to go net. >> it sort of reminded me, chairwoman and ranking to come governor, i don't know about out of a classified briefing. you, but it reminded me about senator mccain is at this that really controversial comment he was overheard at that briefing at this hour. >> why couldn't he have said that to begin with? fundraiser in boca raton in told ted barrett i had a scheduling problem, a scheduling error, if you will. florida in may speaking of the and i screwed up. that would have ended the controversy. >> reporter: that's a great 47% -- i'm paraphrasing, anyone question, wolf. who gets government assistance it's what ted and i were talking if you will, that caused him an about the minute he told me about this exchange. why didn't he just say that? enormous amount of problems during the campaign as well. he certainly has answers for do you see a similarity here and many of us in the hallways a lot. in fact, he just walked out

temporarily of this meeting there? >> absolutely. that's going on right now. look, as a party, as a country, we're an aspirational party, and other reporters were asking why he wasn't at that classified we're an aspirational country, we're a country that believes briefing yesterday. and that's what he said. our best days are ahead of us. i had a scheduling error. so tempers are flaring here. we're a country that believes everybody wants their children i think that exchange with ted to do better than their parents barrett is probably a good have done. we want our kids to get a great example of how heated this issue has gotten. a lot of people particularly as education, and high paying jobs. i believe people on food stamps we've seen over the past couple and government assistance don't want to be there. days, senator mccain. >> we all screw up from time to they're there because they don't time. people make mistakes and we move have the ability to get better paying jobs. on. meanwhile, dana, tempers are it's our responsibility to adopt flaring on the house side as policies that grow the economy, well. listen to this fiery exchange that give them the education and opportunities to have a better after the house hearing on the quality of life. i don't think we get advance benghazi attack. this discussion or debate by insulting folks. >> what is clear is that this look, the republicans we need to stick to our principles, but we administration including the need to treat other people with respect. even those we don't agree with, president himself has we need to show them we respect intentionally misinformed, read them and their beliefs. that, lied to the american we can disagree without being people in the aftermath of this disagreeable. republicans said a lot of dumb things. we need to condemn the remarks. tragedy. now president obama has the gall you saw it in indiana and to float the name as possible missouri. secretary of state the name of as a party we need to stop the person who is the actual talking down to voters. we have great ideas on school choice on putting great teachers

vehicle used to misinform the in the classrooms, energy independence, a lower flatter tax hole without the loopholes american people during this and breaks for the wealthy and crisis. the special treatment. the arrogance and dishonesty let's go out and put those policies out. reflected in all of this is a let's actually have an honest little bit breathtaking. and it's about time that the intellectual debate. president of the united states let's stop insulting people. decide to level with the we have too many people on american people. let's find out the facts. unemployment. they're not there because they want to be there. let's not stonewall this issue they're there because there are not good paying jobs in this and cover up mistakes as appears economy. let's grow the economy and to be happening today. symptom insulting the voters. >> did you cvey these same >> they requested for worldwide thoughts to the governor when he was the republican presidential security $440 million more than you guys wanted to provide. nominee? >> look, i don't know how much benefit there is to continue to a quarter of a billion dollars look back. mitt romney is a good man, in security upgrades that you honorable man reality is i don't think his campaign laid out a refused to make in this good vision how his policies would benefit every single committee. and then you have the audacity to come here and say why wasn't american. it's a very impressive biography the protection of these people and resume. at the end of the day presidential elections are about provided for. visions and policies. and the answer is because you i think now as a party we either need to congratulate the damn didn't provide it.

you reduced what the president on his win. as a party we not only need to administration asked for to look forward and fight for every single vote in america. and the way we do that is to protect these people. and the answer to the question treat people with respect. is how do you protect these we don't need to be like the people? it costs money believe it or democratic party. we don't need to divide people into special interest groups, or not. >> gary ackerman, congressman racial groups first or gender from new york. groups or geographic or class obviously very angry. groups. we treat every american as an the other republican congressman, dana bash is still with us, she's on capitol hill. individual. we don't think demographics is destiny. the circumstances of your birth there's a senate intelligence don't determine your outcome as committee underway right now. they're getting classified an adult. we want every american to pursue briefing as well. the dream. what are you learning, dana. we're going to treat them with respect and offer policies to >> reporter: that's right. help them and their children do this is a group of officials from the cia including the better. that's what we have to be to be acting cia director, mr. clapper a majority party to win elections. the reason we have 30 republican and others from the state governors is they are working to department have been going improve schools in their states. around. they had a very long meeting on they are working to balance the house side for the house intelligence committee this their budgets, grow private morning. by the way, this is the one that sector economies. we don't need two democratic or general petraeus was supposed to be doing coming back after liberal parties in this country. congress was gone and really the republican party doesn't need to moderate our principles. giving them the details that we do need to modernize our they have about what happened in party, however. >> one final question, governor. benghazi, why the intelligence community may have not had the comprehensive immigration correct initial information reform. about what happened there and all of a sudden republicans and

what they know now. democrats are talking about it. that briefing on the senate side lindsey graham, he's trying to is going on as we speak. and as i mentioned, we're going get together with chuck schumer to see if there's an to hear from the chairwoman in opportunity. are you in favor right now of the ranking republican. what we do know is that they are major legislation that would deal with comprehensive seeing a video that was obtained immigration reform, securing the from the consulate. border but also having a pathway it was a closed circuit video to citizenship for some of those that intelligence officials are illegal immigrants who are in hoping will shed light on what really happened and why the the country? >> wolf, several things. information they had at the time may not be what it turned out to absolutely i am for be in the end. >> dana, thanks very much. comprehensive approach. let's stop making this a we'll have much more on this part of the story coming up. dana bash reporting. other important news we're political issue. let's solve this issue. following right now, senior does have to include securing the borders. the president said he was going administration officials telling to present a proposal. cnn the white house is working let him present that proposal so behind the scenes to try to keep the conflict between israel and we aren't negotiating with hamas from escalating. ourselves. but we in the republican party rockets and missiles are flying need to be clear that we welcome folks that want to come to this back and forth between gaza and country and follow the rules and israel with multiple deaths on work hard and make this a better both sides now. stronger country. and right now there's fear this our legal immigration system is broken. could become an all-out ground we need to dramatically increase the number of people we allow in this country legally. war. our senior international it's good for them, it's good correspondent sara sidner is in for our country. right now our immigration gaza city for us right now. policies aren't good for our country, they're not good for sara, what is the very latest on families. this extremely tense situation? we have folks that come here, we

educate them and kick them out of the country. as a republican party we need to be clear that welcome the folks to come here and make this a >> reporter: we have just heard moments ago, wolf, another air better stronger country. takes a lot of entrepreneurial strike, a huge boom and then a spirit and risk to move your black plume of smoke. you can actually see that with family here, to want to get good your eyes even though it is very dark here now. as we're getting information in paying jobs and work very hard. just right now from that latest whether your family's been here five minutes or hundreds of air strike, we are hearing that years, that's not what makes you there are several people who an american. have been killed. that's what's kept us apart from the rest of the world. perhaps several children. we're still looking into that right now. this is just one in a series of it's something unique and exceptional for our country. i don't think we should be negotiating with ourselves. air strikes today that have been let the president put his ideas a barrage of blasts all day long on the table. it's got to include substantial followed by huge plumes of black increase for legal immigrants -- smoke. for legal immigration. but we have also seen dozens let's stop kicking people out upon dozens of rockets leaving that want to make this a better country. >> governor jindal, thanks very this area and areas all along much for coming in. good luck with the new the gaza strip into israel. assignment as leader of the i want to let you hear that. national republican governor's association. we appreciate it very much. >> thank you, wolf. [ gunfire ] >> bobby jindal is the governor okay. that is exactly. all right. i'm going to move out of the of louisiana. very popular in his home state. way. i'm going to let you get a look a lot of folks already here. i'm going to let you get a look

speculating, is it too early to at what is going on. now, i can see the black smoke. start looking ahead to 2016? it's difficult too capture on we'll see. lawmakers get a first look camera. but you saw that flash. this is what we have been at surveillance video of the deadly attack on the u.s. dealing with all day. we've also been dealing with -- consulate in benghazi. so what does it show? i'm sorry, the power has just gone out. we've been dealing with power i'm going to ask one u.s. outages, wolf. but this feels like war. senator who actually saw the video. he's standing by live. it may not have been declared, anne's tablet called my phone. but it feels like war to the anne's tablet was chatting with a tablet in sydney... civilians who live here. people are locked in their a desktop in zurich... homes. all of the businesses have been and a telepresence room in brazil. closed. they have had power outs. the secure cloud helped us get some numbers there's a lot of fear here by from my assistant's pc in new york. the civilians, as you might and before i reached the top, imagine. also on the other side of the the board meeting became border we spent some time there this morning. a congrats we sold the company party. we saw people hunkering down when they heard the sirens in wait til my wife's phone hears about this. southern israel. we saw ourselves, dozens of [ cellphone vibrating ] [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center, rockets coming over being working together has never worked so well. blasted out of the sky by the iron dome. so an actual full-scale war may not have been declared, but it in that time there've been some good days. certainly feels like that to the civilians that are dealing with and some difficult ones. this for the past couple of days. we know that there have been but, through it all, we've persevered, more than 200 rockets fired into supporting some of the biggest ideas in modern history. israel. so why should our anniversary matter to you?

and there have been more than 120 air strikes that have come because for 200 years, over gaza. you just heard the very latest we've been helping ideas move one just now, wolf. from ambition to achievement. >> that was an israeli air strike that we just saw and heard behind you? and the next great idea could be yours. is that right, sara? ♪ >> reporter: yeah. that's what we understand. because here's what's been happening. we have been listening to this time and time again. [ gordon ] for some this line is a convenience. it sounds like the exact same how you doing today? i'm good thanks. sound we have been hearing. how are you? i'm good. [ gordon ] but for others, it's all they can afford. first you usually hear the sound of a plane. and then you hear what are every day nearly nine million older americans massive blasts, very, very different from when for example don't have enough to eat. you hear a rocket coming out of anything else? no, not today. join me, aarp, and aarp foundation even a grad rocket coming out of in the drive to end hunger by visiting drivetoendhunger.org. gaza. those have a very different sound. of course a very different sound from small arms fire. that a major blast. we've been listening to the sound all day long and seeing the consequences of it here in gaza. but again, the folks in southern israel also dealing with rockets raining down on them. we know that three people have been killed in an apartment complex in southern israel. and so far we know at least 15

people have been killed here. some of those were targeted attacks where israel was looking for leaders of hamas, looking for militants. they found nine of them as we understand it nine of the 15 who have been killed were indeed militants here in gaza, wolf. >> be careful over there, sara. we're going to stay in close touch with you. sara sidner is in gaza city for us. later in our next hour we're going to go behind the scenes to southern israel as sara points out. rockets from gaza are flying into southern israel. we'll have a live report from the scene. that's coming up in our next hour as well. this is an extremely, extremely tense situation that easily could escalate into all-out war. israeli troops moving closer and closer towards gaza. there could be a ground invasion we're told as well. we're watching this very, very closely.her w wng >> envienst ho president obama's re-election might lead to some real progress when it comes to climate change.

but they're not quite as optimistic today after hearing what the president now says on the subject. standby for that. [ male announcer ] whether it's kevin's smartphone... let's get to our strategy session. joining us our cnn contributors democratic strategist hilary rosen and republican strategist ♪ ana navarro. ...mom's smartphone... hilary, you just heard the governor of louisiana, bobby jindal, he's very critical of dad's tablet... mitt romney, the campaign he or lauren's smartphone... ran. what did you make of that? >> well, i think there's just a at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. whole lot of distancing going on.

pretty typical after a losing campaign. i thought, you know, governor inen ts you share data on up to 10 devices jindal spoke well about some of the mistakes republicans have with unlimited talk and text. made. add a tablet for only $10 per month. a little bit of a mixed message. i think this was a values at&t. election, not the demographic election that some people like governor jindal and mitt romney anyone have occasional constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating? have been talking about. yeah. so i think he needs to be one phillips' colon health probiotic cap each day clearer about those values. helps defend against these digestive issues he did say we ought to not be with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. protecting tax cuts -- you know, phillips'. tax policies for the wealthy. i think the challenge for [ female announcer ] charmin ultra soft is so soft somebody like governor jindal who just is sort of sitting back you'll have to remind your family they can use less. and criticizing now is to take on republicans that are it's made with extra cushions that are soft and more absorbent. relevant. because mitt romney's no longer plus you can use four times less. relevant. go to john boehner, go to mitch charmin ultra soft. mcconnell and say let's promote these policies that help poor people that help the middle which house is yours? class that promote jobs. the one with the ilverado out front. that's what the president's been so, what do you do? trying to do. that's what he's calling for in well, ahhh... saying that the wealthy should pay their fair share. nice! [ clown horn ] it'd be nice of some of these was his name ♪ [ shouting ] moderate thinkers or new

thinkers like jindal actually held the republicans who are in [ child crying ] power to task a little more ♪ instead of kicking the last guy i...ahh. down the road. >> you tweeted this, ana [ male announcer ] the chevy silverado. the most dependable, longest-lasting full-size pickups on the road. from worksite to home front. navarro, livid at romney saying chevy runs deep. obama won because offered minorities "gifts." as if he didn't alienate hispanics enough wliel running. look in mirror, mitt. >> i'm very upset about the comments mitt romney made. it shows him having sour grapes. that's not a great exit for a man who just lost. you need to look at yourself, the campaign. go and look at the film. how did you run your campaign towards hispanic, african-americans? are you satisfied with what you did? does it correlate with the amount you got? to provide a better benefits package... oahhh! also, it's frankly offensive. [ male announcer ] it made a big splash with the employees. i can tell you as a hispanic [ duck yelling ] republican, i find those [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! comments offensive. you cannot be so condescending [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. ♪ to a big hunk of voters by ha ha! ethnicity or by race.

that's just wrong. i found everything that bobby jindal said today, wolf, refreshing, principled, morally correct, inclusive, just the right kind of tone, the right voice i want to hear as a republican going forward. and i think he is a very relevant republican, bobby jindal. not only is he a sitting governor, but he's also the head of the republican governors we're watching what's association. he's got -- you know, they've happening in gaza right now. got an entire meeting going on in las vegas right now where there's breaking news, israeli they're looking at what some of air strikes, palestinian hamas the mistakes made were in this campaign. and there are some. >> very blunt comments from shelling of southern israel. bobby jindal. we're getting back to our all right, guys, thanks very correspondents in gaza and much. we got to get to another huge story we're following right now. israel shortly. meantime, let's check in with jack. he's got the cafferty file. what's going on? >> wolf, imagine getting in your >> take care. this just coming into "the car in the morning for your situation room." commute to work and having the members of the senate car drive you while you answer intelligence committee have just gotten out of a hearing where e-mails or send text messages or they saw surveillance video of even sleep? the attack on the u.s. consulate "fortune" magazine reports on in benghazi, libya. the so-called driverless republican senator roy blunt of revolution and how self-driving missouri is a member of the

intelligence committee. cars will soon affect ordinary he's joining us now from capitol americans as well as a wide range of industries. hill. thanks very much, senator, for coming in. what can you tell us about this google's fleet of self-driving cars have already traveled surveillance video? 300,000 miles. >> you know, i think the clock there have been no accidents when the cars were controlled by is maybe the thing that the video continues to establish, a computer. pardon me. and only one fender bender when how long it was from the time this event started to frankly there was a human behind the wheel. these customized cars use a the last two people were killed combination of gps radar and a in that mortar attack. 3d mapping camera on the roof and it's a lot of time. that can see traffic signals, it's several hours before that lanes and pedestrians. cars that drive themselves are coming. it's just a question of when. happens. i think maybe the violence at most of the big carmakers are the mission itself where the hard at work on self-driving ambassador was killed happened models. relatively early. and three states, california, but then there's a big block of nevada and florida, have already time between then and the time made self-driving vehicles legal that the last two american lives as long as the human's sitting are lost. in the driver's seat in case of one of the questions we need to a emergency. ask is why can't we respond quicker than that? that's a good idea. meanwhile, these cars could lose why can't we get a systems to worker productivity. people quicker than that? the average commuter spends 250 and obviously the ongoing question is why wasn't there hours a year behind the wheel. or they could come in handy after you've had a couple more security there before this event occurred? cocktails. and then, wolf, there's a self-driving trucks could transform the trucking industry. question about what people

picture long lines of thought happened, when it self-driving 18-wheelers happened and what they were traveling down the highway just a few inches apart, no drivers, reporting to the public and to no stops for gas or food, it the intelligence committees for several days later. could boost fuel efficiency as >> look, from the video that you much as 20%. we're going to need to keep saw this surveillance video, driving ourselves though for a could you -- is it conclusive while longer. experts say the driverless cars that over those several hours as you say, some say six, seven, should be more common in another ten to 15 years when the costs eight hours of video that was come down. taken, could you conclude this here's the question, how would you feel about riding in a car was a crowd spontaneously that drives itself? reacting to that anti-muslim go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post video that had been posted on youtube? a comment on my blog. or was this a coordinated attack or go to our post on the "the by terrorists with mortars? situation room" facebook page. i don't know if i'd trust a car could you make that out from the to drive itself. >> me either. video? >> well, i think from the video i wouldn't feel good about it at all, jack. not at all. we'll see what happens. thank you. substantiates the more informed >> all right. reporting which is from the president obama got a people on the scene and that is it clearly was not a firsthand look today at parts of new york that were hardest hit demonstration. now, how coordinated these by superstorm sandy. thousands of new yorkers, yes, attacks were from the things thousands of new yorkers still that started at roughly, you don't have power two and a half weeks after sandy hit. the storm is raising serious know, 9:30 in the evening until questions about the government's things that went well into the next morning, it's hard to

response, even bigger questions about weather patterns, at least establish how coordinated that was. but it's not hard to establish for some. that there was no demonstration, let's bring in our white house correspondent brianna keilar -- actually, brianna is not yet there was no crowd. when this started, it started as available i'm told. but we do expect to get her up an act of violence. and that should have been obvious to anybody talking about soon. we'll speak to brianna keilar that from the very start. momentarily. we'll also have a quick check of >> based on what you heard in some of the day's other top stories. that's coming up including mitt this closed door briefing, based romney, did he hurt himself with on the video you just saw, does gaffes during his presidential campaign? is he hurting the republican it change your perception at all about the bottom line that the party right now with his latest administration had taken that for several days they weren't comments, the louisiana sure what happened and then that governor, bobby jindal, he's standing by to join us live. (splashing)... following sunday after the killings in benghazi the u.s. ambassador to the united nations susan rice said what she said about the spontaneous reaction? >> well, i've always thought based on what we heard from the very start that there was a big disconnect between the information i thought i was looking at and what the president said yesterday they had. i thought the most interesting thing in the president's comments yesterday was that susan rice had all of the

information they had and related all of that information. that just doesn't seem reasonable to me. if they did -- if that was all the information they had, i wonder why somebody at the white house wasn't asking more questions. and that may be the biggest question here as we go forward. >> are you with some of those republicans like senator mccain, senator lindsey graham who will do everything in their power to block her nomination as secretary of state if it goes forward? >> well, i think again, the question there is what did ambassador rice know? why is that what she knew? and why was she the person sent out to represent the (child screaming underwater)... administration? the president doubled down on this yesterday by essentially saying she had the information (underwater noises). we wanted to convey and she was representing him. so let's talk about him. and i think probably that's what needs to happen here. >> so you haven't made a final decision yet, is that right? >> there's no nomination to talk about yet. i'm interested in what the

president said yesterday, why he said it, why they would send her out with information that i think by that date was clearly not the information that should have been available to anybody that's briefing the president or representing the president. >> senator blunt, thanks very much for coming out of that hearing and speaking with us. we appreciate it. senator roy blunt of missouri. the president shared his message with the worldwide audience. we're going to talk to the man who got quite a surprise after he wrote to the white house.

we've reconnected with brianna keilar, our white house

correspondent, brianna keilar, is watching what's going on in new york. right now the president wrapping up a visit to new york in the aftermath of the superstorm sandy. what happened today, brianna? >> reporter: wolf, he got a rsand look at the aselasthvastue nrh h onsten of breezy point, where you know all of those homes burnt down. and the thing is, during the election climate change was not really a topic that got a lot of attention. but it was very much thrust into the discussion just days before the election when sandy made landfall in this very rare storm in new england. yesterday at the white house president obama was asked about federal response. and he was also asked about his goals for how to deal with climate change and energy. and he seemed to really downplay any expectations of sweeping energy and climate change legislation. saying instead that he was focusing first on the economy and creating jobs. >> i am a firm believer that

climate change is real, that it has impacted -- as a consequence i think we have an obligation to future generations to do something about it. and understandably i think the american people right now have been so focused and will continue to be focused on our economy and jobs and growth that if the message is somehow we're going to ignore jobs and growth simply to address climate change, i don't think anybody's going to go for that. i won't go for that. >> reporter: now, wolf, president obama said that more needs to be done. but he says he wants to have a national conversation talking to scientists, elected officials, engineers. so keeping it very broad. not getting into specifics. not talking about the sweeping energy and climate change legislation. but when you're talking to folks on both sides of this, those who thousands of people write to the president of the united are environmentalists, those who states every year.

but it's not often that their are in the energy industries, message gets passed onto a they seem to think that doesn't mean that he's not going to be worldwide audience. that's exactly though what taking action just that he'll be happened yesterday at president obama's news conference. doing it through executive orders, through epa -- epa watch this. >> it came from a man in tennessee who began by writing that he didn't vote for me. regulations and that kind of which is okay. thing bypassing congress because he doesn't see a way to move forward in that way, wolf. but what he said was even though he didn't give me his vote, he's >> brianna keilar watching all of this unfold at the white house. giving me his support to move the president heading back from this country forward. new york. thanks very much for that. he said that he'll back each of mitt romney's political career may be over, but is he causing a us regardless of party as long new problem for his republican as we work together to make life party? better for all of us. i'll speak live with the louisiana governor bobby jindal. and he made it clear that if we he's standing by. and in his news conference, don't make enough progress, he'll be back in touch. president obama spoke to reporters about a letter he received, one that gave him so my hope, he wrote, is that we hope. you're going to hear from the can make progress in light of man who wrote that letter. personal and party principles, he's standing by in "the situation room" as well. my credit card rewards are easy to remember. special interest groups and years of business as usual, we've got to work together and with the bankamericard cash rewards credit card, put our differences aside. i earn 1% cash back everywhere, i couldn't say it better myself. every time. that's precisely what i intend [ both ] 2% back on groceries. [ all ] 3% on gas! to do. >> steve weiss is the man who

wrote that letter to the no hoops to jump through. president. he's joining us now live from i earn more cash back on the things i buy most. nashville, tennessee. steve, let me read a line from [ woman in pet store ] it's as easy as... [ all ] one! the letter you wrote in an -two. -[ all ] three! e-mail to the president. i am hoping this e-mail does [ male announcer ] the bankamericard cash rewards credit card. reach you, but i'm realistic apply online or at a bank of america near you. that is most likely will not happen. how shocked were you when the president of the united states 100% new. gave you that shoutout ♪ yesterday? >> well, i wasn't totally 100% greek. surprised when he did it because i'd gotten a call from the white 100% mmm... house staff the day before ♪ asking if they had my permission oh wow, that is mmm... to use the letter in the speech ♪ in fact it's so mmm itself. and they went through the you might not believe it's a hundred calories. details of what that would be and what he would say and how he was presenting it. well ok then, new yoplait greek 100. so i got the shock out of my system the day before when i got it is so good. that call. ♪ >> it must have been a real shock. did the president accurately describe what you wrote? >> yes, he did. that is the letter. if you've seen the letter, those are my exact words that he quoted. some of the other stuff's

paraphrased but clearly represents the message i meant to deliver. >> what compelled you to write but lately she's been coming in with less gray than usual. directly to the president of the what's she up to? united states, a man you did not [ female announcer ] root touch-up by nice'n easy vote for? has the most shade choices, designed to match even salon color in just 10 minutes. >> well, you know, we got after with root touch-up, all they see is you. the election. and every day in starting up this business i'm doing here in nashville, i deal with negotiations and having to compromise and work together with people to try to find common ground and deal with differences. i felt that it was important that i reach out to my congresswoman and my senators and to the president himself and really let them know that, you know, my expectation now is that the election's over. you know, the american people -- and i don't profess to speak for them, but me personally expect that they're going to get the job done now. that they're going to actually get by some of the party principles and special interests and things like that that i said in my letter and really make some progress at getting the decisions made that gets us to a better place. >> why do you think mitt romney

lost? >> i believe in my estimation the republican party didn't connect with the american people. it's very clear that in my mind the demographic is changing. and for whatever reason and whatever the message is, it's not connecting effectively. >> what does the republican party need to do now? >> i think they need to really -- it's not just the republicans. it's the democrats also. and i think it's the president also. they really need to look at what's -- what do we agree on? where do we disagree? and wherever we disagree, let's figure out where we can get some common ground. let's figure out how we can meet in the middle. i mean, everybody's got their own constituents to deal with and all the other issues and baggage they've got to bring to the table. and we really just need to sit down and talk through the issues and figure out how we solve this

problem. >> i wish that would happen. good advice from steve wise. that's a good last name for yourself as well, steve. appreciate it. >> thank you. >> you gave us all some wise advice. fear of an all-out ground war between israel and hamas. i'm going to speak to the israeli ambassador to the united states. israel is now being bombarded by rockets from gaza. the israelis are launching air strikes against targets in gaza. standby, fears of an escalating war emerging. low testosterone,th you should know that axiron is here. the only underarm treatment for low t. that's right, the one you apply to the underarm. axiron is not for use in women or anyone younger than 18. axiron can transfer to others through direct contact. women, especially those who are or who may become pregnant, and children should avoid contact where axiron is applied as unexpected signs of puberty in children or changes in body hair or increased acne in women may occur. report these signs and symptoms to your doctor if they occur. tell your doctor about all medical conditions and medications.

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. jack's back with the cafferty file. jack. >> thanks, wolf. interesting question this hour. how would you feel about riding in a car that drives itself?

they're coming. they have them now and they'll be more widespread the next ten or 15 years. ken net in california, if it solved the problem of driving under the influence, texting, talking on the phone and shutting up my wife, the backseat driver, it would be wonderful. sean in thousand oaks writes thanks to our obsession with cell phones, texting, gps devices that tell you to drive into lakes and anything in general that will make you more likely to turn your car into a $30,000 tree decoration most cars already drive themselves at least in a sense so why not? randy writes fantastic. until some 12-year-old decides it would be funny to hack into the computer and send me down the freeway at 100-mile-an-hour. terry in virginia, no way, no how, never, never. i don't even trust cruise control on my car. andy in atlanta, maybe when i'm 80, but right now i like to drive. california, jack, sounds good until a glitch kills scores of

drivers. we can't even make an electric car let alone cars that drive themselves. maybe in another 20 years or so. mel in houston says i wouldn't have any problem riding in one as long as there was a compute ir override button. there are major hurdles to overcome before this kind of program car becomes common place. and, yes, the car will take the place of my wife's turn to drive on long road trips. bring it on. if you want to read more about this, go to the blog cnn.com/caffertyfile. or through our post on the "the situation room" facebook page. wolf. jack. thank you. and you're in "the situation room." happening now, escalating fears of all-out war looming over the middle east. are israeli ground forces on the brink of moving into gaza? just minutes from now i'll ask the israeli m bass dor to the united states. plus, the mystery man who triggered the fbi petraeus probe revealed. we're getting new information about who this veteran agent is and how he got involved.

and a storm victim struggling to stay warm with no power for weeks gets a personal visit from the president of the united states. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we've got breaking news. we're getting new information about what then-cia director david petraeus knew about the benghazi attack and when he knew it. let's get right to our pentagon correspondent barbara starr. barbara, what are you learning? >> wolf, i have just spoken to someone, a long-standing source who has spoken to david petraeus. this is someone on his level

professionally. this person is directly familiar from petraeus with his thinking, with petraeus' thinking about what he will tell congress tomorrow about the benghazi attacks. david petraeus wants to tell congress that he knew almost immediately after the september 11th attacks that the group ansar al sharia, that al qaeda sympathizing group in libya was responsible for the attacks. here's how it goes. in petraeus' view there are two questions on the table. who was responsible? and that is ansar al sharia. he has intelligence he believes to back that up. second question, what was their motivation? that is where some of the confusion may lie. what this source says petraeus told him is there were about 20 intelligence reports that began to come in blaming that video -- that anti-islamic video that sparked the riots in cairo.

that's the confusion, that film or a terrorist attack? they got 20 intelligence reports blaming the film riot in cairo. but, this is critical, those reports were disproved over time. but disproved after petraeus made his initial presentation to congress. so david petraeus believes there's a lot of confusion and a lot of misrepresentation of what he originally told congress when he briefed them initially after the attacks. he wants to go up there tomorrow, sort it all out. he will also say he had his own talking points separate from u.n. ambassador susan rice. that came from somewhere other in the administration than his direct talking point. so he wants to get all this sorted out. he believes it was the al qaeda sympathizer group ansar al sharia that was responsible for the attacks. >> so the question, barbara, is he is convinced that the attack on the u.s. consulate in

benghazi had nothing, nothing to do with that anti-muslim video that'd been posted on youtube, that this was a terrorist attack by this al qaeda affiliated organization. the question is though, when did he reach that final conclusion? did he know that before susan rice, the u.s. ambassador to the united nations went on those five sunday shows and insisted what happened in benghazi was the result of spontaneous anger from that anti-muslim video? >> all the i can tell you, wolf, is this source says the intelligence reports that came in blaming the video, those 20 or so reports, this source says petraeus had those reports disproved over time after he testified or rather briefed the committees on capitol hill. when he looks at what susan rice said, here is what petraeus' take is according to my source.

petraeus developed some talking points laying it all out. those talking points as always were approved by the intelligence community. but then he sees susan rice make her statements and he sees input from other areas of the administration. petraeus -- it is believed will tell the committee he is not certain where susan rice got all of her information. it looks like the business about the video got disproved in the intelligence community at the highest levels finally disproved after the fact. but still, wolf, the question that hangs out there, could this basically be a combination of a lot of factors? it gets back to motivation. the group may have been responsible. what was their motivation? >> we're anxiously awaiting his testimony tomorrow. that's going to be behind closed doors, right? >> absolutely. it's not supposed to come out in public. >> i'm sure a lot of it will though. thanks, barbara, for that. even more information coming

into "the situation room" about the former cia director general david petraeus. let's bring in suzanne kelly who's working this part of the story. what are you finding out about what yet another government information? >> yeah, wolf. this is a bit of a bombshell breaking news this evening. we're just hearing now from a cia spokesman, preston galsman there's going to be a new investigation into the conduct of general petraeus while he was at the cia. let me read to you this statement we have briefly. at the cia we're constantly reviewing our performance. if there are lessons to be learned from this case we'll use them to improve, but we're not getting ahead of ourselves. it's an investigation. it's exploratory and doesn't presuppose any particular outcome. but just the cia inspector general looking into the conduct of general david petraeus is another new twist in this tonight, wolf. >> what are you hearing about what happened in the closed door hearings today on capitol hill? >> right. as you can imagine based on the guest list, this was really the first comprehensive account of what officials were doing as

events unfolded that night. and a government source tells me that what the committees heard today was a detailed timeline of what happened and that they were also shown video of the attack that was recovered from security cameras at the compound. now i'm told that the video is grainy, it doesn't really spell out exactly what happened. but it does give a better sense of the atmosphere that night, wolf. >> will this video be made public? will the american public be able to have the chance to see the surveillance video? >> i know there's an interest in at least getting parts of the video made public. it might not be so easy because of course this is now part of the evidence gathered in the course of that fbi-led investigation, wolf. >> what are the members of the intelligence community, the fbi, others trying to do by showing members of congress, senator and house, this video? >> well, the official i spoke with wouldn't get into detail about what the video actually shows, but it's pretty clear and safe to say it's being brought out to give the committee members a better sense of what was going on outside the compound that niegtd. a source tells me the

presentation was expected to clarify some of the mischaracterizations about the attack, wolf. it's probably fair to say to give people a better sense of the kinds of activity and the levels and how quickly things were picking up. >> so during the closed door hearings today, mike morell is appearing, testifying before these members. tomorrow morning the former cia director, david petraeus will appear. do we expect to get conflicting or similar statements from these fwo men? >> it's interesting because you'd think you'd get the same account from both men. but based on barbara's reporting there might be different things he wants to share with the committee members. it is true general petraeus is the one who took the trip to libya not too long ago and met with people on the ground and got information about that. there's a chance that he also maybe asked whether his resignation last week citing an extramarital affair had anything to do with the benghazi investigation at all. i'm not so sure we'll get the answer to that. but i'm sure a lot of committee members would like to hear that. >> there was a suggestion in the lengthy detailed report in the

"the wall street journal" today that there may have been a connection. but obviously that's a very, very murky area. so the status of this current investigation is where right now? >> well, right now officials i've spoken with have said that they still have someone in custody -- a suspect in custody in tunisia that the u.s. has had access to him. wolf, it's tough to nail down those details because it is an ongoing fbi investigation. but we know there are a number of suspects detained by libyan authorities and intelligence gotten from those suspects as well. they're still continuing to push forward with that source in tunisia too, that suspect rather. >> suzanne kelly, thanks very much. lots of news happening right now. 2016 though is just around the corner, at least to some political news junkies. jack cafferty has that in the cafferty file, jack. >> here we go. the hillary clinton for president buzz is already loud. and it's getting louder. billionaire investor warren buffett told cnn there is nobody better qualified than mrs. clinton to become president in

2016. "i like what she believes in. i think she's extraordinarily able and energetic in pushing those beliefs." and buffett is just the latest to talk about a potential hillary clinton run for the white house in years. he joins people like bill clinton, nancy pelosi, ed rendell, new york senator jill brand and republicans talking about it. google hillary clinton 2016 you get more than five million hits. for her part, mrs. clinton insists the answer's no. she's finishing her term as secretary of state. leave as one of the most popular members of the obama administration. clinton talks about how she's been in the political spotlight for 20 years. and she wants her life back. fair enough. says she wants to sleep, relax. okay. but what about after that? while hillary clinton has repeatedly said she won't run for president again, this is the same woman who says politics is in her dna.

she is after all a clinton. and with a resume that includes secretary of state, senator, first lady, well, a democratic nomination is probably hers for the taking if she wants it. vice president joe biden's keeping the door open to a possible 2016 presidential run although he recently acknowledged it might depend on the economy. a memo to the vice president might also depend on hillary clinton. here's the question, is hillary clinton the answer? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile or go to our post on "the situation room" facebook page. never too early to start speculation. >> special for those of us who are political news junkies. i've been saying for a while no inside information. i suspect she still has that passion, that desire to be the first woman president of the united states. >> she gets a little rest, a little time off. she's liable to come back with a little vengeance. raise a few dollars. >> yeah. she'll be fine. thanks, jack. the middle east under attack right now.

next, we're going live to our reporter on the scene. rockets are falling inside israel. plus, a looming fiscal showdown on capitol hill. we're going to tell you what it could mean for your wallet. [ female announcer ] introducing yoplait greek 100. 100% new. ♪ 100% greek. 100% mmm... ♪ oh wow, that is mmm... ♪ in fact it's so mmm you might not believe it's a hundred calories. well ok then, new yoplait greek 100. it is so good. ♪ i have a cold... i took dayquil, but i still have a runny nose. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't work on runny noses. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have an antihistamine. really? [ male announcer ] really. alka-seltzer plus cold and cough fights your worst cold symptoms, plus has a fast acting antihistamine to relieve your runny nose. [ sighs ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth!

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[ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. buy now. save later. sirens and screams of terror as scores of rockets and shells light up the skies over israel and gaza. the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu was in a building at one point that had to be evacuated in the crossfire. israel is now moving thousands of troops to the border. and concerns of an imminent ground assault are growing. cnn's frederik pleitgen has just arrived in southern israel, an area that's born the blunt. fred joins us.

>> reporter: what's happening here, wolf, is there were about 20 rocket attacks on this town throughout the course of the day. we talked to people who said they're absolutely in fear, especially of course small children in places here as well. this is also a place where only a couple miles away from here three people were actually killed when a rocket hit their house. it's also quite interesting, wolf, in that this is one of the areas in israel that's equipped with a missile defense system called the iron dome. the israeli government says so far the iron dome system has already intercepted more than 130 rockets coming out of gaza. nevertheless, they also say that of course these systems cannot pick off all the rockets. that is why they're stepping up their air campaign as well. we're seeing -- we're hearing war planes overhead from where we are. and we're also hearing a lot of explosions inside gaza. it's just a couple miles from where we are. it looks to us though as the conflict here is escalating. >> you're hearing those explosions, fred, right now? is that what you're saying? >> reporter: absolutely. we're hearing explosions. they're somewhat in the

distance. it's about eight miles i would say to gaza. but we are also hearing war planes overhead. it's been basically the past couple of hours that we're able to hear very, very prominently those explosions in the backdrop. but also there appears to have been fire coming out of gaza as well. it seems like both sides are really stepping up their campaigns. the israeli government saying that since the operation began about 300 rockets have been fired out of the gaza strip. and the israelis have taken out more than 100 rocket positions. so certainly this is a conflict that is going at a very high pace. it really does not look like either side at this point is going to take its foot off the gas. in fact, the israelis are saying that they are more than willing and able to widen the operation as you said a ground offensive is very, very much in the cards at this point, wolf. >> frederik pleitgen in southern israel for us watching what's going on. in the last hour we spoke to sara sidner, our correspondent who's in gaza right now. but let's bring in the israeli ambassador to the united states

michael oren watching closely what's going on as well. are israeli troops, tanks, armored personnel carriers, poised to move into gaza? >> wolf, good to be back. israel will take whatever measures are necessary to defend its citizens. as of tonight, wolf, there are 4.5 million israelis under rocket fire. that's more than half the population of the country. i was on this program last night on "the situation room." since then they fired 240 rockets out of gaza at our citizens. one of those rockets as you heard fred mention killed three adults last night, wounded two infants. we have 150 casualties so far. we're going to take any measures necessary to stop this rocket fire and to protect our citizens including the possibility of ground action. there have been reserves called up. but we hope we don't have to get there. we hope that hamas will internalize the strong message we sent and that they'll step down. >> is there any indication that's happening? on the contrary. they're escalating. just this afternoon they fired rockets that hit in the vicinity

of tel aviv. and you and i remember the last time rockets hit in tel aviv 20 years ago during the gulf war -- the first gulf war, they were fired from iraq. the first time rockets have been fired from gaza hitting in the vicinity of tel aviv. >> south of tel aviv. >> south of tel aviv. though the prime minister as you mentioned prime minister netanyahu was in a bomb shelter. >> he was in one of these towns where a rocket hit. >> as a precaution they moved him down. he was in tel aviv at the time. >> so what happened? sg >> they moved him into the bomb shelter. imagine if the president of the united states had to go into a bomb shelter? imagine what the equivalent would be in the united states 150 million americans were under rocket fire, what kind of steps the united states would take to ensure the safety of its citi n citize citizens. those are the type of steps we are going to have to take to ensure the safety of our citizens. >> so right now just to be precise, there's no letting up at all. the hamas attacks continuing.

israel's launching air strikes, also from the sea strikes into gaza. but so far no israeli ground troops have moved into gaza. >> so far, no. we hope we don't have to reach that point. we want hamas to internalize the hard message. to step down, stop firing rockets at millions of iz roadway #rray lees. >> i read a tweet that said this "we recommend no hamas operatives whether low level or senior leaders show their faces aboveground in the days ahead." are you targeting right now more hamas leaders? you targeted the head of the military command yesterday. >> certainly it's our right and duty to protect our citizens and to protect our citizens from those terrorist leaders who are shooting hundreds and over the course of months thousands of rockets at our citizens. >> you know, the innocent civilians, palestinians, are dying in the process. we've been getting these horrible stories including an 11-month-old son of a bbc

journalist who was killed in one of these israeli strikes. >> we deeply regret any loss of civilian life. and we take extraordinary measures to avoid them. we had one reporter that israeli pilot targeted a long-range missile and then aborted his mission because he saw there were children in the vicinity. one of those missiles hit outside of tel aviv today. so we pay a price. but let's be honest, we're facing an enemy that is shielding itself behind its own civilian population. they're firing rockets from inside schools, playgrounds, even inside mosques. and that's the difference between us. they're trying to maximize the number of israeli civilians they kill. and they hope that we'll kill civilians on their side. >> are you familiar with this 11-month-old child? >> i'm familiar with the case. >> it's a very sad story. >> it's a terrible story. but we are doing our utmost to try to avoid this. keep in mind hamas has not just a military strategy, it has a media strategy. >> do you know who the target in that was? >> i do not.

but it was near an asset, near a missile site. again, doing our utmost to avoid these casualties. they have been low. in fact, most of the casualties on the palestinian side have been armed terrorists. >> because you've been to gaza. i've been to gaza. this is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. about 1.5 million palestinians in a very, very small area. if you move in there with tanks, artillery, there are going to be a lot of innocent civilians who are going to be dead. >> we hope not to reach that point. we don't want to inflict any civilian casualties. they are doing their utmost to inflict the maximum number of casualties on our side. they're trying their best to kill israeli civilians. we're trying to avoid harming palestinians. that's the difference between a democratic state and a terrorist organization. >> i know the prime minister, prime minister netanyahu down in a bunker today for himself has been on the phone with the president of the united states. that was yesterday. have they communicated today as well? >> not today directly. but the message from the white house, from congress, from both parties has been unequivocal support for israel's right to

defend itself and condemnation of hamas terror. >> here's what really worries me as well. the collapse of the israeli/egyptian peace treaty. i witnessed the signing of that peace treaty in 1979. you remember, you've written books about it. is the israeli egyptian peace treaty, they've pulled their ambassador out of tel aviv, you've pulled your ambassador out of cairo. is that peace treaty stween israel and egypt on the verge of collapse? >> it's vital not just for israel, egypt, it's vital for the entire region, for the world. we understand this. we think the egyptians understand this full well. the egyptians have played a constructive role in the past mediating -- i think they can play the similar role today. >> are they? >> i think they can. >> but are that? >> that's all i can say right now is i think they can play a constructive role. and we hope they will. >> that suggests to me they're not yet doing that. >> well, right now the situation's very fluid on the ground. and hamas shows every intention of escalating further. it's not stepping down.

>> mr. ambassador, thanks very much for coming in. we're watching this situation very, very closely. >> thank you, wolf. >> michael oren is the israeli ambassador to the united states. in our next hour we're going to take a look at what the u.s. -- if the u.s. can do anything about this escalating violence that's going on, the tensions escalating between the israelis and the palestinians in gaza. much more coverage when we come back. ♪ [ male announcer ] how could a luminous protein in jellyfish, impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. with investment information, risks, fees and expenses social security are just numbers thinkin a budget.d...

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a major court decision comes down on affirmative action. lisa sylvester's monitoring that, some other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's the latest, lisa? >> wolf, the state ban on

affirmative action in college admissions has been declared unconstitutional. students voted to approve a ballot initiative that bans race as a factor in selecting students and hiring public employees. the six u.s. circuit court of appeals today said that the admissions aspect should be debated at each public university rather than be decided by a constitutional ban. the fda is investigating 13 deaths that may be tied to the popular caffeine boost 5-hour energy. since 2009 there have been 90 reports of incidents linked to the drink. more than 30 deemed serious including heart attacks, convulsions and one spontaneous abortion. the fda was investigating five deaths tied to monster energy drinks. and disney's magic kingdom is about to get more magical. cnn affiliate wesh got a sneak peek of the newest addition to the park and expanded fantasy land. it's nearly double the size of its current home in the park and the largest expansion in the

park history. officials say the expansion should kostz $400 million and that it created 1,500 jobs. which i think is really good for the economy especially in that area, wolf. >> a lot of kids are going to be happy to see it. >> yeah, we're actually going to disney at the end of next month. i think my little kiddos will be happy to see as well. >> get ready to wait in line. enjoy. as the ripples grow from the david petraeus affair, we're getting a better picture of the fbi agent who actually launched this entire investigation. who is he? why did he get involved? we have new details. [ male announcer ] this is joe woods' first day of work.

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we can now put a name and a face with the mysterious fbi agent believed to have triggered the investigation that uncovered general david petraeus' affair. our crime and justice correspondent joe johns is getting new information about just who frederick humphreys is and the nature of his relationship with the tampa socialite jill kelley.

joe johns is here with us in "the situation room." the story gets murkier and murkier all the time. >> every day certainly, wolf. the veteran fbi agent at the center of the scandal described by some as a strong-willed law man on a mission who brought down the director of the cia. others call him an obsessed government agent who went too far. what he had to know was that his actions and methods could launch an internal fbi review into whether he acted appropriately. and we're told that review is going on now according to a law enforcement official. this case is not the first time fbi agent frederick hum fries has gone against the grain. he said this of the would-be terrorist. >> i think he started on a venture that he never fully understood until he found himself in port angeles.

>> which foreign fbi agent almost sounded like harass si to colleagues. last spring petraeus's biographer and mistress allegedly wrote an anonymous e-mail to top afghan official john allen warning about jill kelley. kelley told humphreys who told republican congressman david reichert. eric canter took the story to fbi director robert muller. >> the information that was sent to me sounded as if there was a potential for a national security vulnerability. >> reporter: he had known kelley socially for some time previous to the scandal. according to a source close to

kelley, in july he told kelley he'd been taken off the case and he's going to or already has spoken to members of congress and that he's going to pursue this because he thinks there is something wrong going on. while reports of characterized him as obsessed with the case, his lawyer asserts that proper protocols were followed. in a statement, lawrence berger said he reported it to the proper channels and had no further part in the case. in any event, the source close to kelley said the agent never asked the socialite if it was okay to clue congress in. the source said "he tells her that there will be congressional hearings, that there's going to be publicity. and jill didn't get into this for publicity." as it turns out, not even the justice department went to congress or the president about it because the attorney general said there was no reason to. >> there was not a threat to national security. >> he's also said to be the agent who sent a shirtless photo of himself to kelley though the source close to kelley said too

much has been made of it. the one picture we know that fits this description is the agent standing in line with two torso dummies used in fbi training. our source said it was clearly meant to be humorous and not sexually suggestive. >> do we know why he sent this picture to kelley? >> it sounds like a joke. that's about all we know. the word we got was it was a joke. >> geez. okay. thanks very much, joe johns reporting. lawmakers have less than two months to figure out a deal to avoid sending the country over the so-called fiscal cliff. so what does it mean for you and your savings if they don't? lisa's back with details when we come back. this right here in this spot, this forest, on this branch, with these mosses is where i feel most at home. my enthusiasm in spreading this is because, you know, like a religious evangelist, if you know you have the truth, you want to make sure everybody has

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when it comes to the

so-called fiscal cliff, you've seen the charts, the line graphs, the illustrations, you've seen the serious faces of president obama and members of congress as they stand in front of the cameras. and you've watched the stressed out traders trying to figure out their next moves on wall street. but what is the impending fiscal cliff really mean for you? lisa sylvester's here. she's been checking this part of the story. it means a lot. tell our viewers. >> you know, wolf, when we talk about the fiscal cliff, there are really two parts. one is a sharp reduction in government spending. that will hit hard particularly the defense industry. there are contractors and subcontractors all around the country. the second part is the expiration of tax cuts that would likely mean less money in your pocket. at the whitlows on wilson restaurant in arlington, virginia, plenty of food and drink. but there's something else cooking up, worry. co-owner jonathan williams, concerned about the pending government fiscal cliff. >> there's a real simple correlation, people have jobs,

they spend money. if people are worried about losing their jobs or don't have a job, then they're not going to go out that much. they're going to cook at home or stay at home. >> reporter: just a couple miles from the pentagon many of the patrons here work directly or indirectly for the defense department and its contractors. the defense industry is facing $55 billion in discretionary spending cuts next year unless congress acts to avert the so-called fiscal cliff. in addition several key tax benefits are scheduled to expire at the end of the year that will have a direct impact on the pocketbooks of many americans. take a couple with one child living in new york earning $100,000. their tax rate jumps from 25% to 28%. they could be hit by the alternative minimum tax, the child tax credit drops from $1,000 to $500 and payroll taxes could be $2,000 more next year. for a single 25-year-old in michigan who works full-time earning $30,000 a year and going to school part-time, his tax

rate would stay the same at 15%, but he would lose the american education tax credit and have to pay more than $600 in payroll taxes. and even though it's weeks before the changes would take effect, the impact is already being felt because of uncertainty. 401(k) plans are taking a hit. the stock market down more than 700 points in the last nine days. several company haves put a freeze on hiring. and the next thing to watch for, the retail sector, which makes most of its money in the final weeks of the year. black friday is already next week. and retailers are just hoping it doesn't turn into bleak friday. >> i'm shortening the list a lot. just doing the essentials. taking care of the priorities first. and then trying to be, you know, penny wise and not dollar stupid. >> and the national retail federation, they did a survey that 64% of americans are watching very closely the negotiations in washington over the fiscal cliff. and a lot of consumers are taking a wait and see approach. and right now they are just simply reluctant to go on a spending spree, wolf.

>> the clock is ticking, ticking, ticking right now. >> so many people with so much riding on this right now. again, you have the holiday shopping season, so retailers really want to see a fix right away. >> it's that uncertainty that's causing the stock market for example right now to go down, down, 700 points since election day. >> that effects all of our 401(k) plans as we well know. >> people will pay for that. thanks very much. mitt romney ignites a new political fire storm with comments about president obama's re-election victory. up next you're goij e going to find out what he said that has even some of his own supporters outraged. billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs. today, the beaches and gulf are open, and many areas are reporting their best tourism seasons in years. and bp's also committed to america. we support nearly 250,000 jobs and invest more here than anywhere else. we're working to fuel america for generations to come. our commitment has never been stronger.

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mitt romney has been staying out of the spotlight since he lost the election nine days ago, but in a phone call to top donors this week he laid out one

explanation for his defeat. >> what the president, the president's campaign did was focus on certain members of his base coalition, give them extraordinary financial gifts from the government and then work very aggressively to turn them out to vote. >> let's bring in our cnn senior political analyst ron bro brownstein, ron, pretty shocking comments that even some republicans like bobby jindal are saying are outrageous. >> extraordinary. i was trying to think you have to go back to richard nixon, you won't have richard nixon to kick around to find comments quite so bitter from a loser in a major race. basically mitt romney was returning to the argument of the 47%. you know, he said that 47% of the country was essentially being bought off by government benefits. he renounced that during the campaign. well, in that phone call he renounced the renunciation. >> why is he doing that? i mean, is it his way of

suggesting maybe this is why he failed in his bid for the presidency? >> i mean, he was fundamentally defeated by the emergence of the next america. he ran about as well as you could run among white voters. in fact, he ran as well as any republican challenger ever among white voters and still lost 332 electoral college votes largely because he performed so poorly. in this i thought he expressed extraordinary contempt for the voters rather than focusing on other areas like his outreach to nonwhite voters and alienated hispanics with his talk about deportation during the primaries. not only was it bad politics, it was bad analysis. >> paul ryan, the republican vice presidential running mate also speaking out. i'm going to play a clip of what he told one of our local milwaukee tv affiliates. >> when we saw the kind of turnout that was occurring in urban areas which were really fairly unprecedented, it did come as a bit of a shock.

those are the tough kind of losses to have, the ones that catch you by surprise. >> unprecedented turnout in urban areas. is that another way of saying what romney said? >> it's a different version. and of course paul ryan in his speeches often made the argument about makers versus takers and whether there's a tipping point in effect where the people dependent on government outvote those who pay taxes. look, republicans face a choice here. mitt romney as i said just kind of maxed out on white voters and still lost 332 electoral college votes. the overwhelming evidence, wolf, is that unless they expand thei width, they're facing kind of a hill. democrats won the popular vote in five of the last six presidential elections. it's not a coincidence. this coalition, as it currently stands, the coalition of the ascendant among republicans have a choice, crack it or rage against it. what you saw romney and reagan. >> even when al gore lost, he

had more votes nationally than george w. bush. jack is back with the cafarty file. jack? >> following up on what you're talking about. the question this hour is hillary clinton. the answer might not make any difference what the republicans do between now and the next election. bob in florida writes the last thing we need is another liberal know it all with zero economic or financial experience. someone who never created a job, balanced a budget or met a payroll. remember first attempt at universal health care. fortunately we stopped that one. kim in kansas writes, "too early to tell, jack. she should be the minimum standard of talent and popularity required to be a candidate. republicans will have their revengef fufu fuful axes sharpe 2016." mitchell says hillary clinton was the answer four years ago and certainly be the answer for this country in 2016. i only hope she has the sense to

take on the challaenge and go fx what has been done so far. paul in north carolina says, "how do we know if hillary is the answer if we don't know the question. the 2016 election is a long way off. no reasonable person would even attempt to predict what the issues might be by then. let's wait and see what the world looks like in the spring of 2016 before trying to decide who has the right answers." gary in arizona says, "well, we tried everything else. so why not a women? but those available i would prefer condoleezza rice to hillary clinton. her resume is certainly equal to clintons. i'm for rice with rubio as the vice president. those two on the same ticket would certainly change the image of the republican party." and mike in minneapolis says, "oh, good. time to start talking about the next election because it's been about an hour since the last one. if you want to read more on the subect, go to the blog or through our post on "the

situation room's" facebook page. no electricity and they're living gallon to gallon with their generator providing the only heat for their home. their face-to-face encounter today with the president of the united states.

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for just $99. and ask about adt pulse, advanced home management here today. adt. always there. president obama visited new york city to get a first-hand look at the devastation left behind by the superstorm sandy. he vowed fema would be there as long as it takes to get people back on their feet. >> as you travel around parts of staten island and we flew over parts of, other parts of the city and the region that had been impacted, there's still a lot of cleanup to do. people still need emergency

help. they still need heat and they still need power and they still need food and they still need shelter. >> president spoke with several families, including one couple. our mary snow spent the day with. mary is joining us now. this sandy really took a toll on this family. >> it did, wolf. and this family has stayed in their home since sandy tore through 17 days ago. they have no power, they say they've been robbed once and they're afraid to leave behind what little they have left and they say they are hoping, they are hoping that the president's visit today was not just a photo op. nick's mission now is keeping the heat on in his family's staten island house. paying little notice as his community readied for a visit from the president to view the damage of one of sandy's hardest hit areas. he was more concerned with working on the boiler he was able to rig up just wednesday to provide heat. >> put a generator into your

bedroom with an electric oil heat, it's not enough heat to survive. it's, you know, can i have left the house and went into a hotel? they wanted to give us something somewhere in jersey. you can't walk away from your house. >> reporter: cnn first caught up with the camarada's last week as nick described his hearrowing experience. >> i twas electrocuted trying t get back in my house and watching all my possessions and my family practically almost dying. >> reporter: since then, they have been getting offers of help. to get through each day, they rely on friends and relatives who have been delivering gasoline for the generator. they plan to rebuild, but they say the $19,000 they've been told they can get in government aid won't be enough and feared the president wouldn't see how bad the damage really is.

>> everything is all cleaned up, the streets. you know, look pretty. it wasn't pretty like this. up until the last two days they cleaned up now because the president's coming down to see. you know, the progress that was made down here. >> as the president arrived, nick and diane decided to try and see if they can reach him. they stood in a small crowd waiting and they were able to speak with the president. >> but here's my commitment to you is i'm going to stay on it. i'm not going to be a stranger and suddenly forget all about it. >> does it change anything for you? >> well, we're going to see. >> we're going to see. >> we'll see down the road. down the road there's always a road to recovery and, you know, down that long road to recovery, we're going to see the real barack obama. you know, his true colors. >> with a little more hope, they head back to what's left of their home .

but today, wolf, came another potential setback. they learned the gas lines may be shut off while repairs are done. leaving thel in the cold, once again. wolf? >> what a heartbreaking story, mary, thanks very much. happening now, the political brawl over the attack on the united states diplomats in libya gets angrier as lawmakers see a very disturbing video from the scene. plus, we're learning what general david petraeus will say to the u.s. congress about the benghazi attack. we're told he wants to set the record straight. rising fears right now of all-out war. israel expands its deadly offensive against militants in gaza. will either side blink? i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room."

members of congress say they're trying to get a closer to the truth about the september 11th attack on four u.s. diplomats in benghazi that killed the united states ambassador to libya. day's closed sessionsin the house and the senate are steep in politics and very, very angry allegations. more than one republican has accused the obama administration of lying to the american people in the days immediately after the attack. let's go to our senior congressional correspondent dana bash. dana, you now have learned some amazing material was on that video that the lawmakers saw behind clos doors today. >> that's right. i was told by a source who was at a briefing earlier today in the house intelligence committee that one of the things that they witnessed in this video that was played for them was ambassador christopher stevens being dragged out. being dragged out of the consulate. it's unclear from this source or

really from the video, at least, what the status of the ambassador was, whether he was alive or dead. but, certainly, i can imagine seeing that video must have been very difficult. but that was not the only thing they saw. this was surveillance video, we're told, by a second source coming out of the senate briefing, that is still going on right now. this was surveillance video from the compound, but also video that was shown to them captured by drones. so, there is a combination of videos. and, you know, i should tell you that this has been a very, very long day for top intelligence officials for the acting cia director and director of national intelligence. they came here this morning about 10:00 and still briefing members of congress. in fact, the senate briefing is still going on. it's been going on for about four hours now, wolf. we told you that we expected the senate intelligence chair woman to come out ten hours ago. that still hasn't happened. we're waiting to hear what they say. as you can imagine, a mixed reaction from democrats and

republicans to what they're hearing. whether or not it has really cleared up what the administration knew and didn't know beforehand. kind of a political test from republicans are saying, ah-ha, it is proof that the administration wasn't forthcoming with all the information they had about this really being a terrorist attack. the terrorist elements and democrats saying that they believe even more now that the administration was just dealing with the information that they had the time from intelligence sources. >> let's turn to senator john mccain. he has been aggressively blamin the white house for not releasing accurateini informati to the american public. but he missed an important briefing yesterday on the benghazi situation. what happened? >> it turns out he was one of many republican senators who just did not go to a briefing from the homeland security, within the homeland security committee. an intelligence briefing on the benghazi attack and, at the time, it turns out he was at a press conference talking about

the fact that there needs to be more information and that there needs to be a select committee to look into all the things that happened and what went wrong. we do know from our ted barnt that he tried to get information at least this morning about what happened. why he didn't go and that conversation went, did not go very well. it was pretty testy. listen to some of it. >> listen. i understand that you did miss this briefing yesterday. >> i mean is there -- >> i will not, have no further comment. >> how many times, as a senator, i have no comment. >> now, afterwards, senator mccain's office contacted us and told us the reason why he wasn't at that briefing is because of a scheduling error and that's why

he wasn't there. but that was not the answer that he gave, as you heard there. didn't give him an answer, even though ted did try. >> he certainly did. dana, thanks very much. john mccain is going to be on piers morgan tonight. looking forward to that. meanwhile, the former cia director david petraeus will testify before congress tomorrow about the benghazi attack. we're learning what he will say. kate bolduan is here. >> who knew what and specifically when? putrays wants to clarify some earlier statements to lawmakers specifically on when he first learned who was behind the attack. pentagon correspondent barbara starr broke this story just a short time ago. barbara, what is the former cia director expected to say? >> well, kate and wolf. i have spoken to a source, a long-standing source of mine who is close to petraeus, someone who is not a junior aide.

petraeus wants to go to the capitol hill and clear this up. that petraeus, as cia director, knew almost immediately, that's how the source characterizes it, that al qaeda sympathizer group in libya was behind the attack. but the confusion emerged very quickly, as well. because petraeus and the cia had about 20 different intelligence reports, we are told, that indicated it was due to that anti-islamic film back in cairo that had sparked the riots. so, what you have here are two questions on the table. who is responsible and what was their motivation? what we now understand is petraeus will tell the committee those 20 reports or so about the it being a spontaneous riot because people objected to the film. those reports were disproved over time. but not until after petraeus made that initial briefing to capitol hill about what he knew.

pardon me. so, he wants to go clear it all up. >> all right. >> barbara starr doing some great reporting at the pentagon for us this evening. barbara, thank you so much. >> she certainly is. let's dig deeper now with our national security. they're trying to clear up what the intelligence community knew but so muddled right now and it looks like what general petraeus is going to say to the senate intelligence committee, house intelligence committee is different than what others have said. >> well, it's actually, i think what barbara is telling us is that it's going to be different than what he initially said, right? you know, remember when suzanne kelley reporting right after the benghazi attack, we had been hearing that there was some intelligence to suggest that this attack had been at least motivated or inspired by the

protests in cairo. it sounds now like from barbara's reporting, then general petraeus went up to capitol hill and said, of course, over time became pretty clear and quickly that this was a terrorist attack. regardless of what its motivation had been. and i think that there is a real sense of frustration on the hill. whatever motivated it is less important to them than who did it and they want absolute clarity about that and i think director petraeus, for his own credibility on capitol hill, will give that. >> you didn't have to be an intelligence genius to figure out an attack on the u.s. diplomatic compound in benghazi and the 11th anniversary of 9/11 was a terrorist operation. that was -- i mean, i said it that day, the next day when i had mike rogers, the chairman of the house intelligence committee on this show. we both said, this is too coincident coincidental. not a spontaneous thing.

>> especially two attacks previously at that consulate and does not get you to the attack on the u.s. ambassador. >> petraeus clarifying his remarks tomorrow. is this going to serve as proof that the cia somehow, was it poorly executed investigation or are they did a really poor job communicating early on or they shouldn't have communicated early on until they knew what the story was. >> another example, kate, in the heat of battle when something erupts, you look at all the intelligence sources. you're looking at videos and signals intelligence, things that you collected, pictures, drones and putting all that together and sort through the inconsistencies. it's, as you suggest, until you had the opportunity to do that, you have to be pretty careful about drawing conclusions. >> i want you to stick around for a moment because about to emerge from the senate intelligence committee. we're going to hear what they have to say because they've been getting some classified information. stand by.

there's a lot going on. we'll take a quick break and have live coverage of what they have to say right after this. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese without freshly-made pasta. you could also cut corners by making it without 100% real cheddar cheese. but then...it wouldn't be stouffer's mac & cheese. just one of over 70 satisfying recipes for one from stouffer's.

all right. look at live pictures from capitol hill. the chair of the senate intelligence committee dianne feinste feinstein, they're both expected to walk out momentarily. they've been in there for the last several hours getting briefed on what happened in benghazi on september 11th when the u.s. ambassador chris stevens was killed along with three other americans. we'll have live coverage as soon as they get to the podium. fran townsend is still with us, kate bolduan is here, as well. the video that they saw, the surveillance video that members of the senate and house now showing being dragged out of the diplomatic compound and we don't know, though, is he alive or dead in this video.

have you heard? >> it is interesting, wolf, i haven't realized the video they were going to show included that very sensitive, obvious piece of ambassador chris stevens and, truthfully, one i was surprised. but my real first thought, yes, you'd like to know, can you tell if he's alive. it's unlikely, i suspect. but my first thought was with his family. did the u.s. government contact chris stevens' family and asked them if they wanted to see it before it was shown to all these people as part of the oversight process. not that it would have stopped them, but you want to give the family, the president himself has promised them to have updates and keep them well informed and i sure hope before this is shown to a whole bunch of members of congress that the family at least had an opportunity, they were informed and would have had an opportunity to say whether or not they wanted to see it. >> coming from the cia, from that position when they're in there briefing them. what is the benefit of showing these members of congress this

surveillance video? what is the point they're trying to assist with it in showing this video? >> the members of congress have an oversight role and they're entitled to see what was the information that the intelligence community, the cia when they were drawing their conclusions. what they were looking at. a way of testing the conclusions. >> the other story we're watching is the continued investigation into this whole general petraeus affair that's going on. let me read to you a statement that the cia spokesman put out today. at the cia, we are constantly reviewing our performance. if there are lessons to be learned from this case we'll use them to learn but we're not getting ahead of ourselves and an investigation is exploratory and doesn't presuppose any particular outcome. explain this, give us some perspective. >> the key there is lessons to be learned, right?

so after the coast base tragedy where there were cia officers killed, there was a lesson learned to review. everyone both directly involved and on tand how could we have prevented this and known about it? the interesting thing about this, the notion that it doesn't presuppose an outcome. >> here comes senator feinstein a and and chambliss. i want to listen in on what the chair of the committee says. >> i am here with our vice chairman senator chambliss of georgia and we just had a very lengthy first inquiry. we had virtually all members of the committee there, except for one. we heard a or saw a real-time film put together by ntec about

what happened. we had the opportunity to question the dni, the acting director of intelligence. general roverson from the joint chiefs. pat kennedy, the ambassador who heads the security aspects of the state department. i'm not going to tell you what questions were asked or what answers were given. this is just the first step in the inquiry. we will meet, as you all know, with former director petraeus in the morning and then we will resume the week we come back with another two full hearings. and then we anticipate that we will have a public hearing and, at that time, make our findings that can be unclassified released. i think it was a good hearing. i think it gave us an idea as to

the depth and breath of this and we will just continue to do so and plow through this until we believe we have enough information to make some findings. vice chairman? >> a few things i take away from this hearing. do we know mistakes were made? we know mistakes were made and we have to learn from that. ask tough questions of our witnesses today and we are going to continue to do that and our subsequent hearings which the chairman has outlined. secondly, what was, again, highlighted, is the professionalism of our men and women who are in the intelligence committee and who are in the armed services who were involved here, obviously, as well as in the state department. some very heroic acts that took place. that does not, in any way, minimize, obviously, the fact that we lost four americans. and at the end of the day, our

committee is going to get to the bottom of this and we're going to do it in a classified way to the extent we need to, but at the end of the day, as chairman feinstein says, we're going to have a public hearing where the american people are going to have the opportunity to see the questions asked and get the answers to questions that they have had since september 11th of this year. >> i'd like to expand on something that the vice chairman said. this is a very difficult area of the world. people who participate in the intelligence services that cover this area of the world i think have great difficulty. it's a different culture, it's a different language, it's a different dialect. the countries are troubled from within. and there's a great deal of instability. so, it's a very precipitous

situation and on behalf of the whole committee, i really want to thank them. this is a huge community doing the best they can. and this isn't the days of, you know, kgb, cia intelligence. it's a whole new world. and an extraordinarily difficult one. and as the vice chairman said, we very much appreciate their service and it's very easy to criticize. it's very hard to be out there and put this altogether. >> senator feinstein, in any way the films that you saw. i understand -- in any way the films that you saw and, secondly, can you tell us when the intelligence community got their hands on that film to help us with a timeline of what they knew when? >> no, i don't think i can help you with the actual timeline that this was put together. the film is a composite from a number of sources. it is real time and it begins

before the incident started and it goes through the incident. and the exodus. i don't think i should say any more at this time -- >> yes, it does. i'm not not going to comment. >> general petraeus that you could not get from an agency standpoint that you could not get from acting director morell today? >> yeah. well general petraeus went to tripoli and interviewed many of the people, as i understand it, that were involved. and, so, the opportunity to get his views, i think, are very important. this is not to criticize anybody today because people were in

what they said and we had a back and forth and not always the easiest thing, i'm sure, for everybody that was testifying. but we learned a great deal. >> all right, so, senator feinstein wrapping up an important hearing and they'll continue tomorrow morning, you just heard her say general david petraeus the now former cia director will appear and fran townsend is here with kate and me. did you learn anything from what she just said? >> i think they have been very careful. we now understand in addition to drone video, a composite put together so they could watch it from beginning to end. that actually was very important that senator feinstein said it started before the attack began. so, once you've watched this, there is not going to be any -- at some point there will be no further dispute as to whether or not there was a protest that kicked this thing off. that sort has been dissolving over time. i think this video is going to put at least that piece to rest.

>> we'll see if they ever make this video available -- >> two closed door hearings. >> fran, thanks very much. we're going to take you through the timeline of who knew what and when in the benghazi attack, when we come back. c-max has a nice little trait, you see, c-max helps you load your freight, with its foot-activated lift gate. but that's not all you'll see, cause c-max also beats prius v, with better mpg. say hi to the all-new 47 combined mpg c-max hybrid. but they haven't experienced extra strength bayer advanced aspirin. in fact, in a recent survey, 95% of people who tried it agreed that it relieved their headache fast. visit fastreliefchallenge.com today for a special trial offer.

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trading deadly new attacks. they're ratcheting up fears of a full-scale war. >> the second day of israel's assault on what it calls terror targets in gaza. retaliation for hundreds of rocket strikes on southern israel. police say three israelis have been killed in fresh attacks by hamas and other militant groups. hamas which controls gaza says

18 palestinians have been killed. as israel pounds targets in gaza, the israeli army is moving troops towards the border with gaza. militants will pay a price for an attempt to strike at the heart of tell aviv. i spoke with the israeli ambassador to the united states in the last hour. >> the prime minister of israel has to go into a bomb shelter. imagine if the president of the united states had to go to a bomb shelter. 150 million americans were under rocket fire, what kind of steps the united states would take to ensure the safety of its citi n citizens. those are the types of steps we're going to have to take. >> we're joined now by two veteran middle east analysts. peace and development of the university of maryland and also with the brookings institution here in washington.

erin daair aaron david miller i arab peace negotiations. guys, thanks very much for coming in. it feels like they're on the verge of full-scale war. does it feel that way to you? >> it's fair to say, wolf, it will get worse before it gets worse. the factors for a resolution between israel and hamas simply aren't there. new thresholds have been crossed. yeah, for the first time, the equivalent used against tel a v aviv. >> clearly with a range of 60 to 70 kilometers, number one. number two, the politics are down. hamas trying to consolidate its authority and maintain the legitimacy and outnumbered by these small jihadi groups and under pressure from southern communities to stop the gunfire and elections in january. >> you agree with that analysis? >> the thing is, i think there

is a chance of escalation. we see it partly driven by politics and partly driven by strategy. i also think we shouldn't take, you know, the mobilization at face value. if they're ultimately going to have to negotiate a cease-fire, whether it is after escalation or before escalation and they both have to send a message that they have an upper hand and they have more in store, hamas is now signaled that it can hit tel aviv. the israelis have called reserves or said they plan to call reserves and they both have to do that. i think in the short term i really don't see it in their interest to do so. more importantly, it's not in the interest of any of their allies. certainly the u.s. doesn't want to see this happen and the egyptians, the allies of hamas puts them in a difficult position and they don't want to be in the situation of confrontation with israel at this point. certainly other friends of hamas, including the turks don't want to see an escalation. it puts a lot of pressure on the player on the outside. >> what role should the u.s.

play in this? what should the u.s. do, if anything, to stop this latest stream of violence? >> we had a trial run in '08 and '09 when barack obama was not yet inaugurated president. i mean, american options are limited. we can certainly work with the israelis to try to resist restraint that they are willing to lean on hamas to provide the political space and time for a resolution. i think shelby is right, neither in hamas interest to see this escalate. >> you just had a high-level delegation from qatar going to gaza. i suppose if somebody could intervene and try to create a cease-fire, i don't think the egyptians right now doing much. >> well, the qatar only provide financial support. but, ultimately, for hamas, the strategic partner, the strategic ally in the long term is the egyptian government. particularly the muslim

brotherhood. that is really where it's all going to be. you can see, already -- >> morsi, the president of egypt. >> we're likely to see demonstrations by his own party, the muslim brotherhood in the streets of cairo. >> in support of hamas. >> in support of hamas and asking for doing more beyond recalling the egyptian ambassador from israel. he's being taunted from the opposition, people saying how different are you from obama. >> is the egyptian peace treaty about to collapse? >> i don't think so. most have an objective to empty most of its content and not prepared to do it in a revolutionary way . needs american support and needs the good will of the international community to address egypt's economic problems. >> no surprise that there is a lot of talk that there's more to this than what we see on the surface. more going on behind the scenes that iran is involved and has its fingers in this, as well. what do you think?

>> iran is involved that some of the missiles that hit tel aviv, they're supplied by iran. so, they are. but i think the decisions are probably not iranian decisions. i think it is, there is, you know, when you look at the last few month, both hamas and israel have been actually relatively restrained. been an escalation in the gaza strip that started off by the infringed groups. the israelis always respond, but there was a little bit of an escalation, even by hamas partly because of extremists when hamas is saying why aren't you responding to palestinian attacks. there was an assumption that israel was unlikely to launch a major attack, certainly a ground war just before the election. so, in some ways, both were trapped in a political dance that led to an escalation. the problem with escalation is, you can't control it. >> don't know where it is going to wind up.

this thing can blow up if syria gets involved and receive instability in jordan right now, forget about the rest of the region. if you were advising the president of the united states, aaron, and you worked with several u.s. presidents and secretaries of state, what would you tell him to do? >> first of all, he has to use the relationship that he has. remember, look, our traditional partners in this region, three. most important, they've been with us for the longest. israelis, egyptians and saudis. each have to be mobilized in order to on the israeli side measure of restrain and try to get morsi. after all, the brotherhood, hamas is an offshoot of the brotherhood. they are dependent on him. but, this is not a traditional situation where the united states can walk in and broker a conflict between israelis and palestinians. we do not have a relationship with one of the major combatants. i'm not arguing -- >> the u.s. regards as a terrorist organization. >> i'm not arguing that we do or that we should, but it does

impose certain limitations on what we can do. >> i mean, on this issue, i think, really, the administration's biggest lever is trying to cultivate a new relationship with egypt. no doubt about that. in some ways, there's an opening and was an opening before this escalation. the egyptian government that president morsi indicated preparedness to mediate a cease-fire. hamas was responsive to them. they have some clout with hamas. the israelis could have used that to have a working relationship with the new egyptian government, particularly through u.s. mediation. >> that's where we are. >> has to be cultivated in this. we have to worry about jordan. wolf, you mentioned jordan. the riots over the gas prices there have been praty e pretty e and they targeted the king. if this thing extends beyond thiswalk, you can bet that the riots in jordan will be not just over gas. >> they'll be directed at israel. all right, guys, we have to leave it right there. we'll watch it very, very closely. thanks very much.

republicans say the administration lied about the benghazi attack. are they right? we'll take you through the timeline of who knew what and when. that's coming up next. [ male announcer ] how can power consumption in china, impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

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we have been hearing leading republicans accusing top officials of bold face lies about the attack on u.s. diplomats in benghazi, libya. >> what is clear is that this administration, including the president himself, has intent n intentionally misinformed, lied to the american people in the aftermath of this tragedy. >> the administration says its statements soon after the attack were based on conflicting information and the president says he, too, wants to get to the bottom of what happened in benghazi. cnn's tom foreman has been taking a close look at what was said. tom, what are you seeing? >> wolf, what is really being looked at here very closely is a

timeline of facts in benghazi to see how much that matches up to the statements coming out of the administration. let's look here at the timeline. september 11th, 2012, that's when the attack took the lives of christopher stevens and three others. president obama is informed and the next day he refers to it as an act of terrorism. listen. >> no acts of terror will ever shake the resolve of this great nation. no acts of terror will dim the lights of the values we proudly shine on the rest of the world. no act of terror will go unpunished. >> now, on that same day, sources tell cnn even more details saying they do not believe, on the same day, they do not believe that this attack grew out of some mob protesting the anti-islamic video. instead, this was a clearly planned military-type attack. however, we move forward here to september 16th and now look at what ambassador susan rice says on cbs "face the nation."

very different story. >> soon after that spontaneous protest began outside of our consulate in benghazi, we believe that it looks like extremist elements, individuals joined in. >> so, there you go. extremist elements joined in. talking about the idea moving in. on the 19th, yet another change as the director of the national counterterrorism and secretary of state weighed in. they echoed that theme we mentioned a moment ago, wolf. the idea that maybe this was some sort of spontaneous thing. maybe terrorism but just sort of popped up. some officials suggested, fairly enough, that it wasn't clear in the first few hours or days about precisely who was involved. remember, eight days later and now on the 25th, more than two weeks after the attack, listen to the president on "the view." >> then i heard hillary clinton say that it was an act of terrorism. is it? what do you say? >> we're still doing an investigation. there's no doubt that the kind

of weapons that were used, the ongoing assault that it wasn't just a mob action. >> not just a mob action. this is what has republicans fuming. they believe the facts by this point have been firmly established enough to know that this was a planned attack and the administration knew it. if not immediately, then pretty soon afterward. but the suggestion is they were afraid to admit it because it would be a blemish on the president's record of tough on terror and tackling al qaeda. that's why according to some republican leaders, officials toss around hints that it somehow had something to do with a mob and spontaneous eruption and since ambassador rice was the first one to carry that water, some republicans say they just do not trust her. listen to the latest comment on that front. >> and the reason i don't trust her is because i think she knew better and if she didn't know better, she shouldn't be the voice of america. somebody has got to start paying a price around this place. >> there's no question, wolf,

this is what is going to continue. these two timelines. the official timeline from the administration and the real timeline from this investigation. the complaint from republicans being they don't really match up. we'll see. >> we'll see, indeed. tom foreman with that timeline, thanks very much. still ahead, guilty pleas and billions of dollars in penalty. bp settles up with the government for the deep water horizon disaster. two years ago, the people of bp made a commitment to the gulf. bp has paid over twenty-three billion dollars to help those affected and to cover cleanup costs.

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bp pays heavy price for the gulf oil spill kate is back with the top story. >> part of the dweel over the 2010 deep water horizon disaster

including guilty pleas. here's cnn's ed lavandera on what else is in the settlement. >> there are criminal charges that have been, the company has pled guilty to, as well as three employees that now face criminal charges, including manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter, as well as withholding information from investigators. and there's also one of the things that bp will also have to do is deal with these officers that have to be put in to deal with process and ethic issues. under probation for five years. a lot of their exploration and the way they do business, according to this justice department settlement will be under heavy scrutiny for several more years. >> all this on top of $20 billion that bp is paying into settlement fund for damage claims. the postal service has its own money troubles. a record loss of nearly $16 billion for the past year. the postal service blames the loss on a requirement that it

prefund retiree health benefits. these losses were triple the amount from a year ago. and a shortage of gas used to inflate giant parade balloons has this year's houston thanksgiving day parade in jeopardy. parade officials need another 22,000 pounds of helium. so, if you have some, send it on down to texas. texas is one of the world's largest producers, but a cut back in natural gas production is making helium a little more scarce. who knew, wolf? we're now facing a helium shortage. >> thank you. president obama gets a first-hand look at sandy's devastation. up next, what it could mean for the climate change debate in his second term. [ female announcer ] you can make macaroni & cheese

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president obama got a firsthand look at parts of new york city that were hit by superstorm sandy. that storm raising questions about the government's response and other questions about climate change. >> president obama visited new york city, getting his first look by helicopter at neighborhoods in queens battered by superstorm sandy. >> hard-hit staten island, he visited a disaster recovery center. one of the six in the area offering hot meals, clothes, showers an help to new yorkers applying for assistance. >> there's still a lot of clean-up to do. people still need emergency help. they still need heat, power. they still need food. we are going to make sure that we stay here as long as people need that immediate help. that's fema's primary task. >> making landfall just days before the presidential

election, this rare new england megastorm thrust the debate over climate change into the spotlight after it had been largely ignored on the campaign trail. president obama was accompanied by mayor bloomberg, who endorsed him for president because of his stand on global warming. >> we must rethink and redesign for the long-term because extreme weather as we have learned, is the new normal. >> in his press conference wednesday, president obama seemed so down play expeck tacts that he might tackle energy in his second term. >> people have been so focused and will continue to be focused on our economy and jobs and growth that you know, if the message is somehow we're going to ignore jobs and growth, simply to address climate change, i don't think anybody's going to go for that. i won't go for that. >> the oil industry was

encouraged by that. >> i think the president put the climate change issue to rest by saying we've got to focus on -- clearly, that's where the american people are and energy plays a key role in that. we can create thousands of jobs by producing america's oil and natural gas, providing affordable, reliable energy to our citizens. >> and environmentalists found a silver lining in the president's comments. >> we're hearing okay, maybe he's not talking about passing sweeping legislation, but he has powers. >> he's issued power plant rules for new power plants coming out to regulate their carbon and we need him to take the next step and regulate carbon from existing power plants. he can do that without congress. the clean air act provides that. >> now, for now, wolf, state leaders on both sides of the issue are holding their fire to see if president obama -- and keep an eye on the fight over

the keystone xl pipeline. it's seen by many as the first test as to which direction president obama wants to go and the administration could issue its decision on whether to let that project move forward here in the next few months. >> that's critically important to a lot of folks out there. next, a new commercial stirring up quite a bit of controversy. ♪

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move over, talking baby, tiny lizards. there's a new commercial star in town and it has fur and it flies. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> don't ask how they pulled the rip cord, there's skydiving cats. ♪ i believe i can fly i believe i can touch the sky ♪ a swedish insurance company asked its customers to suggest web ads. the company suggests skydiving cats spelling out her name, putting it to an r. kelly song was the cat's pajamas. the high five midair should have been the tip off, but some pet lovers were upset. this is not funny or cute, it is true. that's disturbing. wrong on so many levels, but

they're wrong, says the company's marketing director. >> i can resay sure all cat lovers that the cats have not been skydiving for real. >> a total of five cats star in the commercial. they never left the studio. people were shot skydiving, then replaced with cats through the magic of green screen. need a little wind blown fur on wind blown sarah? >> they used a fan, yes. >> one person reacted online by posting this kitty don't need no parachute. actually, skydiving dogs are a lot more common. like bugsy the pug on animal planet. after the chute opened, he licked his chops. touchdown. and this florida rescue dog skydives strapped to her owner. >> she has her own oxygen mask. >> her tail wasn't wagging. it was flapping. these sky divers made the leap

clutching an inflatable sharp with some teeth in their jump. we did dig up one video of a real cat skydiving. four years ago, a member of a russian parachute club sewed a jump suit for his cat. the cat seemed calm until right before they leaped. but after landing safely, he said the pet didn't even pee himself like a lot of people do their first jump. it's not exactly raining cats and dogs. just sprinkling. >> what is so funny about flying cats? everyone in the studio was